Home Actuality Macau launches public tender for 5G licenses

Macau launches public tender for 5G licenses

Macau today launched the public tender for the award of four 5G licenses, according to an order published in the Official Bulletin (BO) by the Office of the Chief Executive.

“Aiming to promote the application of communications technologies and the development of Macau’s telecommunications sector,” the region’s government intends to issue “four licenses for fifth-generation public land mobile telecommunications networks and provision of corresponding land mobile public-use telecommunications services,” the BO can read.

The regulation states that “all companies licensed to install and operate a public land mobile telecommunications network and provide land mobile public use telecommunications services in Macau” can enter the race.

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Bids may be submitted in Chinese or Portuguese and delivered by 17:00 (10:00 in Lisbon) on August 12, 2022, say the rules, which also define that the license is valid for eight years and may be renewed for an equal or shorter period.

Macau is the only region without 5G coverage among the Greater Bay Area cities, although one of the local operators, CTM, has already invested 600 million patacas (69.5 million euros) in the system, the company indicated in May.

CTM started betting on the fifth generation network in 2020 and “has been ready to commercially exploit” the system since June last year, Aguinaldo Wahnon said at the time in a meeting with journalists, stressing that only the awarding of a license was missing to start operations. Contacted today by Lusa, Wahnon welcomed the launch of the public tender, saying that the operator is already working on a “successful proposal.”

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“We are naturally very pleased to see that finally this long overdue licensing process has finally been published,” reacted the local operator’s Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Aguinaldo Wahnon. “We are excited about the possibility of working together with the government and the regulator, CTT, so that Macau can have 5G in the shortest period of time possible,” he added.

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